When the stimulus was kicking in, adding significant demand to the economy, real GDP and job growth quickly turned less negative, with GDP turning positive later in 2009, and job growth beginning in early 2010. Moreover, as the stimulus flattened, so did they.

The fact that virtually no one actually thinks reaching the fiscal cliff is a good thing when push comes to shove tells you everything you need to know about how absurd and besides the point our debates about deficit issues have been.

Matalin and Spitzer debate whether Santorum's religious conservatism has veered into Church Lady Comstockery ("Is it Satan?"). Will Mitt's money win Michigan? Then: why did the GOP cave and is Charles Murray the cultural equivalent of OWS?

Keynesianism was dealt a serious blow. What's left in the ruins? Who knows? But what occurs on a debate stage or a presidential podium is really not what defines modern economics. Or at least it shouldn't.

Friedrich Hayek, the intransigent opponent of socialism that Glenn Beck and conservatives admire, also saw himself equally opposed to their conservative agenda, something conservatives ignore at their peril.

Paul Ryan's quest to slash government spending is a job-killing agenda. He has to resort to crazy incoherent arguments about interest rates because everybody can see that spending money to create jobs will, you know, create jobs.

What is left out of the description of his theory in regards to counter-cyclical fiscal policy, is that Keynes also believed that in times of relative prosperity sovereigns should create budget surpluses.